


A Little Trust

by Arcobareno



Category: Puyo Puyo
Genre: Autistic!Lidelle, Friendship, Gen, Self-Acceptance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-06 19:48:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14654916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arcobareno/pseuds/Arcobareno
Summary: Lidelle's heart was racing, her hands fluttering slightly (though nobody else could tell due to her gigantic sleeves). She was rather nervous to tell her friends something she had recently found out about herself. She had no idea if it was good, bad, or something she just had to accept. She's mostly prepared to tell a couple friends she trusts the most, all she just needed some time... and to make sure she wasn't nervous.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back on here... after about two months of school and stuff. College was a bit busy for the spring semester, but I definitely want to write more this summer! I've had this little idea in my head for quite a while, and it took at least a few weeks to actually write this first chapter. My writing may not be the best... but I still hope you'll enjoy this!

Lidelle felt incredibly anxious about heading to school today. There wasn’t a big test, nor was there anybody being mean to her at the moment. However, she felt rather scared about going. She was afraid of people judging her for something she had found out she was born with.

She knew Klug had suggested she had anxiety or something of the like. That was probably also true, seeing as Lidelle always had trouble talking with people since she was little.

No. It didn’t seem as bad as anxiety, she had no idea if this was bad or good or just something you had to accept…. though, the elf girl thought if she told her classmates, they’d all suddenly tease her all over again or treat her as if she were a small child. She didn’t want that at all.

She thought of turning back to go home… but it was far too late. She was already at the entrance of the Primp Magic School. With a silent sigh, she entered the building.

As the day slowly went by, it was a bit hard for the horned girl to concentrate in class. One of her tiny legs bounced in fear, her elf-like ears straightened in worry, and her hands fluttered slightly (though this part was hard for others to notice due to her gigantic sleeves). Amitie had quickly noticed this and quietly tried to get her attention, only to be caught by their teacher, Ms. Accord.

  
“I think it may be best to leave her be for now, Miss Amitie.”

“She looks so nervous though, Ms. Accord..!” the blonde pointed out.

As the lesson went on, Amitie quietly and quickly wrote and passed a note to Sig-

**_‘We should make sure Lidelle’s okay. But don’t force her to tell us what’s wrong, that may make it worse, just give her as much time as she needs_ **

**_~Amitie’_ **

The cerulean-haired boy turned his head toward the blonde and nodded in agreement.

~*~

It was the end of the day. The bell rang, causing a majority of the students to run out of the classroom, with Klug being the only one that actually walked out. All that were left in there were Lidelle, Amitie, Sig, and Ms. Accord.

The horned girl simply was waiting for the right time to let Amitie know. From what she knew, Amitie was always very accepting of other people, no matter what… As for Sig… Lidelle was a bit unsure if he’d be accepting or not. Unless it was about bugs or animals or food or Amitie, he usually didn’t give it as much thought. But he was also kind to her. Maybe he’d be understanding.

The blonde looked toward the smaller girl, causing the latter to squeak in surprise and hide her face using her mega-large sleeves, trembling slightly.  
“You okay, Lid? You seemed kinda shaken up…” Amitie asked.

“I-I’m… I think I’m… okay…” Lidelle responded as she partially uncovered her face.

“You were so nervous during class though. I’m not gonna pressure you into telling us what’s wrong, but I hope you’re okay..!” Amitie smiled in worry.

“Your leg. Bouncing again,” Sig pointed out.

Lidelle winced when she noticed her leg and tried to stop. She was trying so hard not to cry.

Amitie backed away slightly, trying to give her friend some space.

“Is everything alright, you three?” their teacher asked.

“Lid’s upset,” Sig said. “After I said…”

“Sig, that might make it worse..!” Amitie told him.

“Sorry, guys…”

“Why don’t you both leave her be to calm down for now?” Accord calmly suggested.

It was so motherly of her, something the students often noticed right away.

“Yeah, it’ll take some time… hey Sig, maybe we could go get a snack or something!”

Sig was immediately drawn in with the mention of a snack. “At the cafeteria?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m sure they’ll have something there or in one of those fancy machines with food in them… I’m sure Lidelle will calm down soon, we just gotta leave her be for now.”

And with that, Amitie and Sig had left the room. The only people left in the room were Ms. Accord and Lidelle.

“Take as much time as you need, alright, Miss Lidelle?”

Lidelle silently nodded, and the teacher went back to her desk to look over some papers. At this point, it was a bit hard to get even a word out of the elf girl. It actually was beginning to worry Ms. Accord a bit.

“You’re sure everything’s okay at home?” she questioned.

A moment of silence, until Lidelle spoke up.

"N-Nobody hurt me, and things are g-good at home with me and mamma… I just… I feel… nervous.”

“About what, exactly?”

“Telling Miss Ami.”

“What did you need to let her know?”

“I’m…. I’m autistic.”

Lidelle was at the verge of tears again, expecting her teacher to be cross with her… only it was the exact opposite of what the girl had expected. The teacher had a smile, a very relieved one, on her face.

“There’s nothing wrong with that, Miss Lidelle. I’m very glad you let me know,” Accord said, her expression seeming to be very reassuring . “In fact, I think Miss Amitie wouldn’t be upset about that either.”

“She…she wouldn’t..?”

“I’m sure that if you tried to explain it for her, she may understand.”

“….I’m… still trying to learn about it too, though…”

“I may not be autistic… but I do know a little bit about it, due to previous students I’ve had.”

~*~

As the pair were heading back to the classroom, Amitie was growing rather nervous about waiting for Lidelle. While Sig wasn’t as close to Lidelle as Amitie was, he was also a bit worried about her.

They stopped by the door that lead to their classroom, hesitating to walk in, in case the small girl was still upset.

“Please tell me she’s okay… I _really_ hope she’s okay.” Amitie whimpered, biting her fingernails a bit.

“What’s the worst that can happen?” Sig asked.

“…Sig, what if somebody hurt her? Or what if she-"

“We've been to her house before; her mom’s nice. I don’t think anyone would want to hurt her. She’s nice.”

“…you’re right. Even that Satan guy wouldn’t want to hurt her. She’s too kind to hurt anyone, so I don’t think anyone would try to…”

“Yeah.”

The two heard the door open, to reveal Lidelle peeking out from the inside of the classroom. She still looked rather anxious, but at least the tears had stopped, to the blonde's relief.

“Are you alright, Lidelle?” Amitie asked.

The grass-haired girl nodded her head, trying not to panic again.

“M-Miss Ami, I…. I need to… I need to let you know about something…”

“Oh, alright! Take your time, ‘kay?”

Lidelle nodded her head once more.

“W-Well…. mamma, she… she told me something about me yesterday, and I… I’m still trying to learn about it myself… I…I’m not sure if it’s good or… or bad..!

“I’m…. Miss Ami, I’m….”

The small girl stopped for a moment. She noticed both Sig and Amitie were paying attention; their looks didn’t seem demanding or mean… more curious, she’d think.

“I’m autistic.”

Amitie quickly, but gently, hugged Lidelle. Sig silently watched them. He, on the other hand, was actually a bit unsure what to do at the moment.

“I’m not exactly sure what autistic means, Lid… but you’re still one of my best friends! And you've got Sig and Raffina and Klug too, I’m sure they’ll understand too… We’ll still accept you no matter what!”

Lidelle began to cry, hugging Amitie back; she was so relieved that someone she could trust this much wanted to remain her friend.

"Miss Amiiii..! Thank... Thank you, thank you so much..!"

"You're more than welcome, Lidelle."

"Sooo... she _is_ okay?" Sig finally questioned.

The green-haired girl nodded. "It's not... it's not a sickness. I just... just have trouble talking sometimes... That and all my senses are.... stronger?"

"Wait, stronger..? Like... more sensitive..?"

Lidelle's face grew as red as a tomato, causing her to quickly hide her face with her giant sleeves again. "I-I'm sorry, it's a little hard to word it... I'm... I'm still trying to figure it all out..!"

"It's fine."

"Hey, you know who I think could help, Lid?" Amitie chirped.

"Mr. Klug, right..?"

"That's exactly who I was thinking of! I think he'd be at the library... Are you okay telling him about this though?"

Lidelle had quietly thought it over for a moment... Yes, Klug was one of the smartest, if not _the_ smartest, students at the magic school, but he could be... a bit of a show-off at times. Would he know something about this?

"Maybe....maybe I should ask him by myself," Lidelle answered, as she began to head off to the library.

"Alright! Good luck, Lidelle!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lidelle thought Klug would know something about this, he was one of the smartest kids in the magic school, after all... But what _does_ he know?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first time really writing Klug, I'm sorry if he's out of character at all...

When Lidelle arrived at the library, she immediately noticed Klug at one of the wooden tables, several piles of books surrounding him.

_He really does read this much, Mr. Sig seems to be right about him being a bookworm,_ the horned girl thought to herself. She couldn’t help but notice he also was currently reading a book as well. She couldn’t exactly tell what the title was, but it seemed to be some sort of mystery novel.  
Lidelle quietly approached him, being sure not to frighten him.

  
“U-Um… e…excuse me, Mr. Klug…” she stuttered.

  
The brunet took notice of the girl, his gaze now on her instead of the book. “Ah, salutations, Lidelle. What can I assist you with?” he asked.

  
“Um… do you… do you… know what exactly autism is?” the grass-haired girl murmured, “I…I need help figuring out what it is for me…”

  
“I do happen to know some information about it… Wait, are you saying you’re autistic?”

  
Lidelle slowly nodded, a bit nervous about what his reaction would be.

  
“That doesn’t surprise me too much, honestly,” Klug adjusted his glasses. “I thought you’d have anxiety, possibly. But anxiety is quite common for autistic people, from what I’ve read. I think it’s due to unexpected change for the most part…”

  
“I get rather anxious when it’s loud, too... and I hate when certain things touch my hands. That’s why I’ve always had long sleeves, even before I learned magic.”

  
“Heightened senses. I remembered you’ve always hated when it got loud, you often cried over it when we were little, too… perhaps for you, your abnormally large sleeves also help you keep calm, if you’re that sensitive to touch.”

  
“For me..? Why do you say that?”

  
“Autism’s different for every single person who has it, Lidelle. Not everyone has the same exact symptoms.”  
Lidelle softly sighed.

  
“...Let me ask something. Lidelle, is there some interest you really like? Anything you’d talk about whenever you get the chance? Kind of like when Sig talks about bugs, for example.”

  
Lidelle thought it over for a moment. Something she always talked about...

  
Whenever she was with a friend, she’d talk about all the animals she saw in the forest when she got a chance. She’d carefully observe them from a distance and even note what kind of foods they like.

  
“Animals... and nature.”

  
“That right there could possibly be your special interest, something an autistic person is very passionate about and knows a lot of information of.”

  
“U...Um...”

  
“I’m simply stating what I found out, Lidelle. I’m not going to experiment on you or anything like that, if that’s what you’re wondering…”

  
Lidelle sighed in relief. “Where… where did you find the information?”

  
“Actually, I found some of it on the internet and in some books. I thought it’d be very useful to find info from someone who actually is autistic. Sometimes others who don’t know what it’s actually like can be rather… inaccurate, I’d say.”

  
“What do you mean, Mr. Klug?”

  
“Well… There’s people who’ve tried to compare it to terminal illnesses or even say it’s worse than those things. They’ve even thought autistic people were burdens too.”

  
Lidelle froze for a moment.

  
“B-Burden..?” she quietly whimpered. “S…Surely we’re not…”

  
“Listen, you _aren’t_ a burden.” Klug gently grabbed the small girl’s shoulders, trying to stay as calm as he could. “I’ve seen you study very hard and take notes and even make some really neat stuff for art class. Even if you aren’t the best with popping puyo, you’re definitely not a burden. I do know there’s some that may need more assistance than others, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t useless. That definitely includes you.”

  
“You… you promise..?”

  
“It’s definitely a promise, Lidelle. I don’t want you feeling sad over this.”

  
There was a tiny, awkward pause between the two.

  
“Um… is this a good thing… or a bad thing..?” the horned girl softly asked.

  
“It depends on what you think of it,” Klug answered.

  
“…I feel… I’m… I’m not sure how to feel, honestly…”

  
“And that’s fine too, I’d suppose…”

  
The horned girl suddenly remembered she had to get back to Amitie and Sig and let them know how things went.

  
“U-Um, thank you for helping me out..!” Lidelle said, slightly bowing.

  
“You’re welcome,” Klug replied. “Be seeing you tomorrow.”

  
“B-Bye..!”

  
Lidelle quietly shuffled out of the library, careful not to bump into anything.

  
~*~

  
The grass-haired girl had finally returned to the classroom. Aside from Amitie chattering about, it was silent.

  
“I’m… I’m back, Miss Ami, Mr. Sig..!”

  
“Oh, hey, Lidelle,” Sig greeted. “How’d things go with Glasses?”

  
“It… It went fine,” Lidelle answered. “He actually gave me a bit of information… b-but…”

  
“He didn’t say anything mean, did he?” Amitie asked.

  
“He told me… some people might think I’m a burden… but luckily, he said that sort of thing is to... make others feel sorry, which isn't right... he promised me that I wasn’t a burden though! He said we just need some extra help sometimes, some more than others!”

The puyo-capped girl sighed in relief. “I’m just glad he didn’t make you upset or anything..!”

  
“I was… a bit nervous…. I still don’t know how to feel about autism, though, even after Mr. Klug explained it to me.”

  
“…I think it’s just something you gotta accept, right? It’s a part of you, Lid!” Amitie chirped, her lips forming into a smile.

  
“It…it is..?”

  
“I mean, it may affect your life in some ways, and you'll need extra help depending on the situation... but you wouldn’t be the Lidelle we all know and love without it, right?”

  
Lidelle could feel herself tearing up again, this time with happiness. She quickly hugged the blonde.

  
“M-Miss Ami… thank you..!”

  
“You’re more than welcome, Lid!”

  
Sig silently motioned to the two girls, hoping to join in for the hug.

  
The two girls both nodded, as Sig immediately ran to them and hugged them both. It was a little rough for a hug, but they didn’t mind.

  
In the end, a bit of trust from her best friends helped Lidelle accept a part of herself, something she would be eternally thankful for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Geez this was actually a bit of a pain to write… I actually had to rewrite and scrap some of it because I didn't want it to be overly sad.
> 
> I know Klug can be a stuck-up jerk most of the time, but he probably does have a soft spot at times too. I know he’s a bit out of character here possibly, but this is actually my first time writing him.
> 
> This was also a tiny bit inspired by when I first learned about my diagnosis; it took a few years, but I learned to accept my autism for what it is after finding some positive things about it, something that was hard to do when I was younger.
> 
> ...also, no, I'm not projecting myself onto Lidelle here, she'd obviously have different symptoms than I do if she was autistic. Keep in mind that this is just an interpretation, not actual canon..!

**Author's Note:**

> Wonder how the meeting between her and Klug will go in the next chapter...
> 
> ...also, yes, I actually headcanon that Lidelle is autistic. I know not everybody is going to be on board with this headcanon... and that's perfectly okay. We all have different interpretations and headcanons; just don't force them onto anybody else, and it's all good.


End file.
